The second of four women’s contests at UFC Vegas 92 saw strawweights Ariane Carnelossi and Piera Rodriguez face off.
Carnelossi was 2-2 inside the UFC octagon and coming off a loss against Loopy Godinez; Rodriguez was 2-1 overall and looking to bounce back from a loss to Gillian Robertson.
It was Carnelossi who pushed forward early on Saturday in the third preliminary card bout of the evening. She put the pressure on in the opening frame, forcing Rodriguez to fight off her back foot and counter. While the exchanges were short, Carnelossi was throwing hard when she did open fire; in the final 90 seconds, Rodriguez used lateral movement to set up a well-timed takedown.
Round two found Rodriguez find some success pinning Ariane Carnelossi against the fence, working in some elbows from a standing position. Carnelossi was on the defensive, locking her hands together trapping one of Rodriguez’s arms while she worked on a takedown. Carnelossi then switched to overhooks, but that didn’t allow her to reverse the position, and instead Rodriguez backed off and let loose with a combo. Moments later, back in the open Rodriguez dropped Carnelossi, but while battling on top Rodriguez connected with a head butt. Moments later, and after a warning from the ref, Rodriguez did it again.
That led to a break in the action, with the doctor brought in to examine Carnelossi, who remained on her back during a time out. While she would sit and briefly stand up, she was unable to continue, resulting in the bout being declared a DQ. Ariane Carnelossi had already left the cage, headed to the back for medical attention, when the result was read.
The headbutt (or headbutts, more accurately) having been declared intentional is not entirely unheard of. Petr Yan’s illegal knee on Aljamain Sterling saw the UFC bantamweight championship change hands in March of 2021, in perhaps the most shocking outcome of an intentional foul.
Official Result: Ariane Carnelossi def. Piera Rodriguez by DQ (illegal headbutts), Round 2, 3:16
